Together, yet so lonely
by Namyari
Summary: Today they were turning 25. She was turning 25.


Summary : Today they were turning 25. She was turning 25.

AN : Hello dear reader ! I turned 25 this week and so I wrote a bunch of OS where characters turned 25 too, or just about their birthdays, really. I know it's short but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you'll like it. N.

Wanda didn't want to get up. She had spent the day alone in her room, in the dark.

February, the 10th. She used to love this date and now she despised it with all her heart. Today they were turning 25. She was turning 25. Not _they_. Not anymore.

She fought the tears that gathered in her eyes. Again. She wanted to scream, and to cry and to sleep and she couldn't even find it in her to move from her bed.

Maybe if she stopped moving, existence would forget her ? She groaned. She wasn't stupid enough to really believe it.

She didn't even jumped when someone knocked on her door, but she didn't answer. She didn't want to see anyone.

This person was insistant. they knocked again, and again and again. She huffed in her pillow, trying to muffle any sound that might slip past her lips and reveal her presence in the room.

She could hear the person groan.

"Wanda, I know you're in there." It was Peter. She felt bad for not answering but didn't move. "Friday confirmed you're here."

This time she was the one who groaned.

"Leave me alone." Her voice was quiet but she knew he'd hear her with his spider-sense anyway. "Please." Tears were threatening to spill again and she desperately fought them.

"Wanda, you know I'm here for you." He pleaded and she winced internally. "I know it's your birthday, Friday told us. We all wish you could come with us. We don't ask you to celebrate for real, but at least spend some time with us."

So they knew.

She had been "lucky", all these years. She had always spend the days around her birthday on missions or away from the Tower or the Team for a reason or another. They had never noticed anything and she had never complained.

It seemed to be over, though.

"I don't want to see anyone." She said as firmly as she could. She felt him sigh behind the door and she could almost picture him rubbing his face tiredly in her mind.

"Alright… You have my number, Wanda. Do not hesitate to call if you need anything. ANd I mean it, honey : _anything_."

She nodded to herself but didn't reply. She waited for a minute or so before moving again. She wanted to be sure he wasn't there anymore.

She thought she fell asleep again but she couldn't be sure. She was woken up or got out of her bubble when someone banged at her door. It had seemed loud at first but she realized the person behind it was actually really considerate and soft.

She groaned and turned on her bed, laying on her back. She didn't want to answer.

"Wanda, darling ?"

Clint. She hadn't known he was back at the Tower. He spent full time with his family now, no matter how much he insisted that they were his family too. However she knew very well how persistent the man could be.

"Wanda, you can't spend all of your day in your room. Knowing you I'm sure you're sulking in the dark." She frowned but said nothing. She had all the right to be sulking in her room, especially today. "I know how hard it must be for you, darling." Did he ? "But I also know he wouldn't want you to stop living because of your memories of him. He'd want you to be happy, Wanda."

"How can you know what he'd want ?" She half screamed, half cries. He couldn't understand.

"Because he loved you. He loved you so much he could never wish for you to be sad forever." He sighed and she thought he flopped down against the door. "If the roles were reversed, would you want him to be sad and to be sulking in his room all day ?"

She wouldn't. Obviously, she wouldn't. How could she wish for him to be sad, ever ? Her brother was her everything and she wanted him to be the happiest person in the entire world.

She was thankful when Clint didn't talk for several minutes. She knew, deep down she knew he was right. She _had_ to live. If not for herself, then for him.

She tried to find the strength to move, she really did. If she had to guess, she'd say it took her about four minutes to sit on the bed.

He must have heard her move in the bedroom because he didn't try to talk to her again. She padded slowly to the door and rested her hand on the doorknob for a few seconds.

"Wanda ?" His voice startled her. "Just know that everyone is waiting for you, alright ?"

"Clint ?" She whispered and she heard him standing back up on the other side. He said nothing but she knew he had heard her. "Thank you. And Peter too."

She breathed deeply and opened the door. Clint was there and engulfed her in his arms. He didn't let go of her, even when she tried to get away. He slipped his fingers through her hair and it felt so reassuring. He kissed her forehead and for a second she felt like crying.

AN : Well, I hope you liked it !

I'll be back with more MCU and SpiderWitch fics soon.

N.

This year, for the first time in seven years, she wouldn't spend her birthday alone.


End file.
